Well, well, well! Would you look at that? Pepsi’s packaging has undergone a complete overhaul, just in time for Barack Obama’s inauguration! The resemblance between the former Pepsi logo and the Obama logo was already striking, but this time around, the likeness is positively uncanny.
The similarity does not end with the logo: it turns out that Pepsi has also launched a new website to celebrate the dawn of a new year, a new design for Pepsi, and some might say, a new political era. Don’t believe us? Just check out Refresh Everything. It reminds us of Mac ads, which might as well be considered shorthand for saying that it reminds us Obama. What’s more, the page is plastered with video clips addressed to “Mr. President,” as well as buzz words like ‘optimism’. As if that weren’t enough to convince the world of what they are going for, Pepsi also released a totally Obama-riffic video on New Year’s Eve.
Call us cynics, but our first reaction was to wonder how “for real” Pepsi is about all this. That is to say, is there money where their metaphorical mouth is, or are they simply being opportunistic? We remembered that the New York Times article from this summer about the correlation between food preferences and political leanings said that “Pepsi-Cola and Sprite are Democratic” but that’s not much to go on.
The real find was “Obama: the Pepsi Candidate,” an August, 2008 piece from Slate. Apparently
when Obama assembled a team of financial heavyweights for a summit to discuss economic issues, one of the most prominent corporate leaders in attendance was Indra Nooyi, the Pepsi CEO whose Indian heritage makes her, like Obama, one of the few nonwhites to reach the highest levels of power in her profession. Although Nooyi hasn’t endorsed Obama—few CEOs make explicit endorsements—it’s hard to imagine that she doesn’t support him; she and her husband gave $27,000 to John Kerry’s campaign in 2004.
So, there you have it: although it’s true that Pepsi is capitalizing on Obamania, they are also a Democrat-leaning company.
P.S. As a bonus round for the less intellectually lazy, we invite you to construct an elaborate theory connecting the Coke vs. soda vs. pop, Obama, and Pepsi’s Refresh Everything campaign.
What’s for Dinner? The Pollster Wants to Know [NYT]
Obama: the Pepsi Candidate [Slate]
